Introducing a PIM: Challenges for businesses

Due to ever-advancing digitisation and constantly changing customer requirements, companies are always facing new challenges. When looking for solutions, we’ve shown in previous posts what opportunities and benefits come with a PIM system.

Today, however, we’d like to show why a PIM system can help retailers and manufacturers meet their current challenges and emphasise the strategic role a PIM system plays within each organisation.

The reasons for a lack of product data quality vary: Often, due to years of growing corporate and IT structures, the product information is distributed throughout the company and exists in different qualities and systems. The sometimes uncontrolled access of data by several people from different departments can also make the quality of the data inaccurate or jumbled.

Unclear specifications regarding the data structure or data maintenance as well as a lack of rights and roles make it difficult or even completely impossible to improve the quality of the data. Since there are usually insufficiently standardised processes for dealing with data in the company, both the internal exchange and the exchange with external partners ends up failing.

One one hand, in the future, the efficiency of a company will be the deciding factor, on the other hand, the increase of customers’ experiences will be the larger factor of the economic success. Since the quality of the product data is critical, a PIM system lays the foundation for achieving these goals.

How do you report defective product information?

• Increased costs for data management, IT, and data maintenance
• Rising complaint rate
• High bounce rate
• Low visibility in search engines
• Falling conversion rate
• Rising returns rate

Supporting Measures for the Success of a PIM System

If you look more closely at the individual points, it becomes clear that PIM systems can influence the work of different departments and thus influence different business processes. Therefore, it is necessary to plan and manage PIM projects not only operationally, but also strategically.

Process Management

Every system influences the business processes of the company. For this reason, companies should analyse, standardise, and optimise their processes holistically. It’s often the case that over the years, business processes have not been adapted to current structures and processes, which often results in a waste of resources.

Without adequate process management, only a fraction of the potential of a PIM system can be harnessed. Comprehensive consideration, as well as a potentially necessary process update, not only help to achieve the goals of a PIM system (such as eliminating wastage). Only in this way can the data quality, i.e. the basis of an optimal customer experience, be maintained over the long term.

Change Management

In addition to process management, change management plays a major role in connection with a PIM implementation. Many companies are losing sight of the most important thing – their own employees – because of systemic challenges. These are the people who work with a PIM system daily. They play a key role in maintaining data quality, thereby determining the true value of such a solution. In fact, many employees are worried about new systems.

Change management should help to reduce these reservations and positively transform them. Thus, employees are already involved in the introduction of the new system in its early stages: It can not only be avoided by a possible pushback, but also early aberrations due to overlooked requirements can be prevented.

But efficient change management may not only help in the early stages but also during the software implementation phase. This ensures that the actual goal doesn’t disappear as progression continues: Long-term customer satisfaction through consistent customer centricity throughout the lifecycle of the PIM or MDM system.

Data Governance

The task of data governance is to define as effectively as possible the guidelines for dealing with data in the company. In addition to the allocation of rights and roles, a clear allocation of responsibilities and responsibilities to this topic belongs. A key challenge faced by many companies today is the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the threat of widespread sanctions for infringements. When implementing the rights of customers, business partners or employees mentioned therein, an MDM system can make a critical contribution.

Comparing PIM and MDM Systems

Our new white paper »Selecting Product Management Software« is now available for free to download.

In addition to a detailed look at the vendors on the market, including the brand new dotSource PIM Vendor Matrix, the white paper contains all the information on system evaluation and selection and provides the necessary food for thought before a launch.